Amid the recent furore over the future (or not) of 6 Music, one figure has loomed large. No, not Mark Thompson, but John Peel.

"This is a disgrace to the great man's legacy!" tweet indie blokes of a certain age. "How could the BBC abuse Peel's memory in this way? Did all those Festive Fifty votes mean nothing?"

To which, I can only shout: HELLO EVERYBODY! Have you not listened to Radio 1 lately? Forget 6 Music, and consider how Peel's station, the station he loved and clung to, often despite himself, has happily danced a merry jig on his grave. Consider, if you will, Nick Grimshaw. Why is no one protesting about that?

Rewind to early 2005, and there was much talk, in the aftermath of Peel's death, about how Radio 1 was going to continue his work. New music became the station's mantra. The big man was endlessly eulogised. John Peel Day was hatched. There was a plan – a stupid one, but a plan – to have three DJs share Peel's slots, in order to replicate his breadth and enthusiasm.

How well that worked, and how sincere Radio 1 was in its pledge to offer a genuine alternative, can be judged by the fact that Ras Kwame now occupies that much sought-after 5am Sunday morning slot. Of the three Peel replacements, only Huw Stephens retains a time slot where he might feasibly play a transformative record to an impressionable teenager.

In the meantime, Peel's 10pm show, that historic window of wilfulness, weirdness and unexpected beauty, has been occupied variously by Colin Murray (a man whose music tastes ran the full gamut, from Ash to Nirvana) and now Grimmy, a DJ who defines the point at which "indie" ceased to be a genuine dissenting ideology and became a "look" in Topshop. What else can you conclude, but that Bruno Brookes won?

So what? So everything. 6 Music may or may not offer a genuine, eclectic alternative – personally, to me it sounds more Janice Long than John Peel – but no matter. With an average listener age of 37, it certainly isn't forging the young musical minds of tomorrow. Which is why, if you want to talk about Peel's legacy, and a fight for the soul of BBC radio output, Radio 1 night-time should be the battleground, not 6 Music.

Look across the schedule and all is not yet lost. Indeed, Radio 1's (tightly controlled) proliferation of specialist music shows is half the problem. Respect to Westwood, Fabio & Grooverider, Daniel P Carter, the In New DJs We Trust strand – particularly Heidi's excellent house and techno show – Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs and Pete Tong, but in today's digital world we don't need niche programming. There are innumerable online radio stations where we can all gorge ourselves on our favourite genres, to the unhealthy exclusion of all else. What we need is enforced variety.

Great radio, as per Peel, doesn't mean giving people what they want, so much as exposing them to stuff they might hate. Where is that self-belief on modern Radio 1? Let the commercial stations pander to their audience, but the national state broadcaster, the country's biggest incubator of new music, should take a more noble stance. For at least two hours a night.

It's simple. Give us back that 10pm slot, and, within it, cultivate a collective national moment for curious music lovers of all ages. Challenge us. Appal us. Take us out of our comfort zone. Such a show may never have the biggest listener figures, but it will matter, and not just as a concrete tribute to John Peel.